Words of Light and Hope from Rev’d Judith Sweetman

When sorting out some box files recently, I came across a card which my mother had written out beautifully, in calligraphy, for my husband Rufus, when he was very ill with depression some years ago (my mother sadly died in 2010). Rufus is happy for me to share this with you and I hope it can convey light and hope to you, or someone you know, when life is dark. It is by John Kendrick Bangs, an American author (1862–1922).

 

I never knew a night so black

Light failed to follow on its track.

I never knew a storm so gray

It failed to have its clearing day.

I never knew such bleak despair

That there was not a rift, somewhere.

I never knew an hour so drear

Love could not fill it full of cheer.

 

I believe the following words, written on the facing page, may have been my mother’s own:

 

When you’re lonely

I wish you love

When you’re down

I wish you joy

When you’re troubled

I wish you peace

When things are complicated

I wish you simple beauty

When things are complicated

I wish you inner silence

When things look empty

I wish you hope

 

A prayer for inner strength from God – Ephesians 3.16-19 :

 

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, [God] may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.